The pieces on this disc were discovered in Ann Southam’s house following the composer’s death in November 2010. They are related to Returnings and Returnings II: A Meditation which Eve Egoyan recorded in 2011 on “Returnings: Music of Ann Southam” (Centrediscs CMCCD 17211).

“The music on this disc is similar in pulse and texture, dynamic and pianistic range. What fills our ears and draws us in towards the music is in the weave: the magnetic pull of the constant drone of a fifth in the lower voices; the unfolding of a dissonant row in the middle voices; and the colouring of warm harmonic chords on top. The interaction of these three elements are blended by pedal which open the piano’s resonances holding the row in a constant, tender embrace. Ann, the composer: an artist colouring, blending and clearing; a scientist subjecting her row to different soundings. We, her audience, alongside her, witnessing her musical world unfolding peacefully around us, embraced, like the row, on the flow of a journey that has momentum of its own.” – Eve Egoyan

Eve Egoyan is a pianist, an artist whose medium is the piano. Her ongoing performance interests encompass extremely contrasting sensibilities: from Alvin Curran’s five-hour long Inner Cities to Erik Satie’s miniatures; from minimalist Simple Lines of Enquiry by Ann Southam to maximalist new complexity works by Michael Finnissy; from the barely audible to roaring overtone-filled resonances; from the rigorous interpretation of a score to free improvisation. Egoyan also explores other art forms and technologies in relation to the piano. “5” is Eve’s ninth solo disc.

Egoyan’s take on new works is stunning…Egoyan’s remarkable playing balanced that delicacy with intense focus, holding all in a net…the spaces in between the notes were still charged with presence…I even found myself confusing sound with touch…so convincingly had Egoyan restitched our reference points. – The Globe and Mail